rainfall | ashton irwin au | completed

two

I slowly followed the trodden down path through the forest, music quietly murmuring from my earphones to my ears. I had never enjoyed loud music; I found it uncomfortable and unnecessary. It was much easier to appreciate it at a gentle volume. I loved peace and quiet, which was strange as I was so moody all the time, but it was one of the many reasons I loved the forest. With nothing but distant birds singing in the trees that towered above me, it was the calmest place on Earth.

I stopped in my path, my eyes drinking in a small but steady flow of water next to me. This was one of my favourite places to come and sit when I was angry or upset. I could come here and watch the river for hours, the sound of its soft trickle easing my body of any existing tension.

My fingers twitched at the sight of the stream now, wishing so badly that I could sit down and feel the damp soil next to it, take in the scent of earth and greenery . But I couldn't, not today, as of course Anna had called an 'emergency' meeting.

I sighed, promising my little creek that I would be back.

It was silly, but I cared for nature a lot more than I cared for any human in my life. My mother was always working as a nurse at the local hospital and sometimes I wouldn't see her for days, her shifts always during the night. My father had no interest in raising me and left my mother before I could even understand what was happening. I had no other person I could confide in or love, partly because I pushed everyone away with my hostility and partly because everyone in this town annoyed me in some way. I wasn't sad about my loneliness, getting lost in the forest every weekend kept me comforted and I didn't particularly need anybody else. I thought it was silly anyway; relying on other people for your happiness is the quickest and most painful way to get your heart broken. The bones in my body and the undying trees in the forest were the only things I needed.

I continued to Ivory Lake, feeling deflated when I saw that most of them were already congregated there. I was hoping for a few more minutes to myself before I had to pretend to engage in whatever it was Anna wanted to blabber on about today.

"Lilah!" She called over-enthusiastically and I grimaced. I couldn't stand her false optimism at the sight of me; everybody knew she wasn't that happy to see me, so why bother?

I joined the group next to the lake, standing next to Leah and crossing my arms over my chest as I watched Calum and Luke sluggishly make their way towards us, clearly as happy to be here as I was.

"Right, we're all here so I'll start," Anna said as they reached us. Anna had been the leader of the coven from the beginning as she was able to find out the most about us and she was the most level-headed of us all. Nobody had to say it out loud, but everybody knew Anna was the one in charge, and with a situation as ridiculous as this, nobody challenged it.

"Obviously we are all aware that there is a new boy in town." Everybody nodded. "His name is Ashton Irwin, and I believe he is one of us. I'm sure we've all already seen him and felt our power get stronger. Our coven, if you will, is complete now, which means our magic has been magnified and we're more powerful than ever. So we need a plan."

"A plan for what?" Calum asked impatiently, and I smirked at him from across our slightly deformed circle. It was easy to like him when he shared the same attitudes as me.

"Well, we need to find a way to tell him," Anna answered, looking at us all one by one.

"I've already talked to him a few times today, so it won't be too hard to get him to come and sit with us at lunch," Michael offered, running a hand through his unnaturally black hair.

"And he was staring at Lilah this morning. I saw him," Leah grinned, nudging me playfully in the arm. I shot her a glare and she blushed quickly, intertwining her hands with Michael's.

"I saw him staring at lunch, too," Grace added. "For whatever reason, he has an interest in her."

Anna raised her eyebrows, grinning from ear to ear as if she was a child on Christmas day, marveling by all the presents sat under her tree, still believing the magic of it all. "This is great!" She squealed excitedly, causing me to wince at her sudden high pitch.

Yes, I thought, great. I was in the process of gaining myself a stalker. Just fantastic.

"Lilah, Ashton is obviously interested in you, right?"

"If you say so," I respond, exhaling in exasperation. I didn't like where this was going.

"So, if you interact with him a few times, get him to trust you a bit and ask him to join us all at lunch, it should be easier to explain to him what we are."

I scoff. "Yes, because telling somebody they're a witch is always easy," I say sarcastically.

"Obviously not, but it's better if he trusts us first," she reasons.

"I'm sure Grace could just use her powers to seduce him. It's not necessary to drag me into this."

"I agree with Anna," Luke finally breaks his silence, stepping forward slightly to join our disjointed circle. "The guys obviously got some kind of interest in you. We may as well use it to our advantage."

I highly doubted Ashton had any kind of interest in me. He was attractive and bubbly and I was dark and brooding, constantly hidden by my own hair. We were complete opposites and I could barely stand the idea of having to pretend to be friends for the sake of something that I had a mild involvement in.

Anna confirmed the plan and started talking about something her dad had said yesterday, so I drifted off into my own world, watching how the mist lingered over the still lake as if it couldn't bear to be separated from its beauty.

For a brief moment, I wished that I could feel that way, too. I wished that I could be the lake, beautiful but mysterious, and I wished that I could have a mist, longing to touch me and seep through every fibre of my being.

"If you gave people a chance, maybe you would have a mist," Leah said, so quietly that I didn't even realise she had said anything at first.

I looked at her, angry that she had invaded my thoughts. My cheeks heated up uncontrollably out of both embarrassment and fury.

"Don't use your witchy powers on me again." I ordered, my voice cold. "My thoughts are none of your business."

And with that, I walked back through the forest, my hands clammy and mouth curled with frustration, grateful that the meeting had already finished whilst I was daydreaming.

As I stamped back through the forest, I focused on the grey, bland sky, my eyes narrowing as I felt power surge through my veins. I didn't think it had worked at first, but sure enough the rain came down without warning, so heavily that I instantly felt droplets soaking into my hair and clothing.

I breathed out as the cold raindrops sent shivers throughout my body, calming me down instantly despite the chill spreading throughout my muscles.

I didn't know if I was crying. The rain disguised any tears threatening to fall.

It rained all night.

AN: in case you wanted an idea of what Lilah looks like, I've put on a picture of her above the chapter:) pleaseeeee let me know what you think, the votes and comments I've had so far have been lovely and it means a lot when people read my work. Thank you so much to anybody reading, I have a lot of ideas for this book so hopefully you'll all stick with it (please and thanks)